Insecticide dust spraying machine



June 27, 1967 J. A. LANNIS 3,327,424

INSECTICIDE DUST SPRAYING MACHINE Filed Oct. 12, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

JOSEPH A. LANNIS is ATTORNEY June 27, 1967 J. A. LANNIS INSECTICIDE DUST SPRAYING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet Filed Oct. 12, 1965 Fig.4.

INVENTOR. JOSEPH A. 'LANNIS BY I his ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,327,424 INSECTICIDE DUST SPRAYING MACHINE Joseph A. Lannis, 1012 Norwich Ave., Pittsburgh, Pa. 15226 Filed Get. 12, 1965, Ser. No. 4%,267 3 Claims. (Cl. 43-148) This invention relates to improvements in insecticide spraying machines for discharging insecticide dust under pressure into the space inside concrete walls and the like, but which machine is also adapted for discharging dust sprays under pressure for other applications.

An outstanding disadvantage of machines conventionally used for spraying insecticide dusts has been that the dust tends to cake while in the machine-also it is not discharged uniformly at a substantially constant ratealso the dust tends to accumulate on the fan blades and eventually causes a break-down.

An object of the present invention is to overcome the above named disadvantages by providing a novel dusting machine in which dust will not collect on the fan blades and wherein the dust will be slowly agitated in a manner so as to be discharged uniformly and under pressure also wherein means are provided for preventing back-up of dust into the fan compartment, also guard means to prevent escape of dust from the nozzle onto the face of the operator as it is being sprayed through a hole in basement walls and the like.

Other objects and advantages will become more apparent from a study of the following description taken with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top or plan view of an insecticide dust spraying machine embodying the principles of my invention;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view thereof taken along line II-II of FIG. 1; and,

FIGS. 3 and 4 are transverse cross-sectional views taken along lines IIIllI and IV-IV, respectively, of FIG. 1.

Referring more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawing, numeral 2 generally denotes an insecticide dust spraying machine embodying the present invention and comprising a dust storage compartment 4 into which insecticide dust is introduced through a large diameter screw plug 16 (to avoid the necessity of a funnel) so as to collect at the bottom of the compartmentthe upper surface being denoted by numeral 40. Flanged supports 14 are provided in the form of two parallel runners to form a sled-like construction to facilitate sliding movement of the assembly. A shoulder strap (not shown) may be attached to the machine to facilitate carrying.

Outside air is drawn into the machine through a pluality of holes 27 formed in a rear cover 8 and thence through filter 28, after which air is drawn in the direction of the arrows through an electric motor 20 which drives a squirrel cage rotor comprising fan blades 25 mounted between discs 26 at about 3600 rpm.

The fan is enclosed within a housing 24, whereby the air which is blown will be discharged through central opening 31 in the direction of the arrows so as to flow the air outwardly through a tube 32 which is bent at right angles and which is of oval cross-section so that the discharge opening 34, of reduced cross-section, will be directed onto a major portion of the length of the scoop-like impeller blades 38. The dust is scooped up as a consequence of rotation of the blades by a second electric motor which drives the blades clockwise at considerably lower speed, such as through reduction gearing, and of the order of 50 rpm. so as to merely slowly agitate the dust and prevent caking thereof.

Preferably both the fan motor and the agitator motor 10 are electrically connected together so as to be simultaneously controlled by a single starting switch 14, whereby both motors will simultaneously start and stop.

At the top portion of compartment 4 there is provided a discharge or outlet pipe connection 18' including a coupling connected to a flexible hose 44 which, in turn, is connected to a shut-off valve 46 that is, an on and off valve operated by a handle, so that when the valve is turned on, dust is discharged under pressure through pipe 48 onto which is connected a rubber or flexible guard or plunger 52 of hell shape which is adapted to surround a hole formed in a basement wall to form a seal so that dust discharged through outlet pipe 50, which projects through the hole, will not escape through the seal formed by the perimeter of the rubber bell shaped guard 52. Since termites work in the dark, the interior of concrete basement walls is vulnerable to attack by termites. By blowing into the wall, as described above, the insecticide dust or moth ball crystals will be blow out at the ends of walls exceeding 30 feet in length.

An important feature of the above described construction is that outside dust will not accumulate on the fan blades, nor will insecticide dust be blown by back pressure so as to clog such blades, this being prevented partialy by the specific construction of the pipe 32 having a bend, thus providing a very limited opening for dust to be blown back into the fan compartment.

A still further important feature is that the agitator blades 38, by virtue of their slow rotation by motor 10, will always keep the dust from caking and in agitated condition to facilitate blowing thereof from the blades by pipe 32 so as to be deflected in the direction of the discharge opening 42, as ilustrated by the arrows. Even when the discharge valve 46 is closed, both the fan motor 20 and agitator motor 10 may continue to rotate so as to not only keep the dust in agitated condition, but the heat of the motors will further tend to prevent caking.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided an eflicient insecticide dusting machine embodying a unique construction to prevent accumulation of either outside dust, or insecticide dust from back pressure to accumulate on the fan blades which would eventually cause shutdown; furthermore. I have provided an insecticide dust spraying machine embodying a unique agitator assembly for preventing caking of the dust and at the same time for permitting etficient movement and deflection of the dust to a discharge outlet pipe so as to provide a uniform discharge rate of insecticide dust under pressure; furthermore, I have provided a discharge accessory embodying a guard or sealing bell to enable the discharge of dust under high pressure into the interior of basement walls without the danger of leakage of the dust and its harmful noxious elfects to the operator.

While I have illustrated and described a single specific embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that this is by way of illustration only, and that various changes and modifications may be made within the contemplation of my invention and within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A machine for discharging insecticide dust and the like under pressure, comprising a first compartment including fan means, a second compartment communicating with said first compartment through a small opening, an agitator including blades mounted for rotation in said second compartment so as to agitate insecticide dust which is contained therein, air directing means extending between said opening and said agitator, and a dust discharge outlet means connected to the upper portion of said second compartment.

2. A machine as recited in claim 1 wherein said air discharge means comprises a pipe in said second compartment having a right angle bend which has one end connected to said small opening and the other end confronting the blades of said agitator, whereby dust which is scooped up by the blades of said agitator is directly blown by air through the discharge outletof said pipe.

3. A machine as recited in claim 1 together with a flexible hose connected to said discharge outlet, a shut-01f valve connected to the extremity of said hose, a discharge pipe connected to the discharge end of said valve, and a bell-like flexible sealing element surrounding said discharge pipe to enable the formation of a seal along its mouth portion against a wall when said discharge pipe is projected into a hole formed in said wall so as to dis- 4% charge insecticide dust under high pressure into the interior of the wall.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,194,487 3/1940 Thompson 43148 X 2,587,714 3/1952 Embree et al 222193 2,870,565 1/ 1959 Martin 43148 2,929,355 3/ 1960 Paquette 11951 FORElGN PATENTS 450,208 8/ 1948 Canada. 700,164 11/1964 Great Britain.

ALDRICH F. MEDBERY, Primary Examiner.

SAMUEL KOR'EN, Examiner. 

1. A MACHINE FOR DISCHARGING INSECTICIDE DUST AND THE LIKE UNDER PRESSURE, COMPRISING A FIRST COMPARTMENT INCLUDING FAN MEANS, A SECOND COMPARTMENT COMMUNICATING WITH SAID FIRST COMPARTMENT THROUGH A SMALL OPENING, AN AGITATOR INCLUDING BLADES MOUNTED FOR ROTATION IN SAID SECOND COMPARTMENT SO AS TO AGITATE INSECTICIDE DUST WHICH 